Adventures of a multidimensional freak

This is Juan Julián Merelo Guervós English-language blog. He teaches computer science at the University of Granada, in southern Spain. Come back here to read about politics, technology, with a new twist

It's been all over the place, so you probably know already that the autonomous region of Catalonia has banished bullfighting (or rather bullring bullfighting, since other forms of figthing, or teasing, bulls are still permitted, or even encouraged.
A lot has been made of this; in fact, in Spain we make a lot of noise and fighting and arguing on just about everything. In fact, a single bullring was active in Catalonia and mostly for tourists. Bullfights have not been shown for a long time on national TV (but they thrive on pay channels and some regional government-run stations), and in fact, just a few fiestas took place every year, with a bunch of bulls killed (and some bullfighters maimed).
So, what's the big deal? A few thousands persons will not be able to take the underground and attend a celebration they like, and a few tourists will be pissed off because they weren't able to see, live, a bull killed. Because just a few people, and mostly of the older persuasion, like bullfigthing. Most young people would be seen in a bullring just for a concert or in any of the many pubs that have been built around them. Myself, I've never been in a corrida for years, and will never voluntarily go to one or watch one on TV. In fact, I'm horrorized by the gruesome pictures of gored bullfighters that show up, from time to time, on the first page of web dailies, where you can't help but watch them. I won't take anybody in my family to such a show, so the next generation is not going to change in their tastes.
And why is it so? First, a corrida is boring. It takes three long hours, it takes place in an uncomfortable stone bench (helped by little pillows), it is expensive unless you want to endure sun for three solid hours, and if you go just for the bulls, you're probably going to be disappointed. People go with friends and use it as a venue for staging a party, sometimes looking at the bullring when they are warned by the bugles or by the yells of people.
And then, it's a complicated art. Most people distinguish between standing and kneeling passes, and that's that. Those who know (less and less) are able to name every single motion, and of course understand styles and patterns and types of bulls. But since there's a generation gap between the previous generation and this one, the numbers of those are dwindling quite fast.
That all means that in a generation there will be only a few bullrings operating. It all boils down to economics, and if the managers can't obtain enough money they will just shut down and use bullrings as movie theaters or as historic museums. Outside the big cities, it's increasingly difficult to pay goot bullfighters, which are expensive. And the lack of a quality show will feed back on itself, making the few people who understand and like it abandon the plazas.
That said, it does not make any sense to forbid something that will probably die by itself, and not in the far future. If you look at the big picture, it makes even less sense. But here you go, it is forbidden now, which will probably lead to a renaissance of the fiesta and an increase of interest due to the well known "green door" effect. Red doors, in this case.
Etiquetas: bullfighting, politics, spain, catalonia